Recently, I replaced the rotors, pads, and E-Brake shoes on my wife's 2002 Dodge Grand Caravan. I had no issues and I compressed the calipers as I have always done on the 5 or 6 cars I have ever done brakes on. About a week after the job, my wife's calipers locked up as she was driving down the road and they started to smoke. I drove out to meet her after she had finally been able to pull off the highway and could smell brake dust like crazy. Not only are the rotors blue in a couple spots now, the pads may well be smoked. I understand all that but here is my issue:
I have taken it to 2 different repair shops to get it looked at and they are both telling me 2 different things and I need a mediator:
Repair Shop #1: It is possible that the Calipers are bad and they need to be replaced. The pads and rotors are definitely bad. They only appear to be bad on the front according to them so they want to charge $368 for that job.
Repair Shop #2: After a Diagnostics test, they got an error code 22 (Internal Failure) from the ABS Electronic Control Unit. He also says that three out of 4 brake sets are bad and he wants to replace the ABS Control Unit, the Hydraulic Control Unit, the Master Cylinder (Just in Case), all 4 sets of rotors, pads, and calipers, and also all the fluid in the Brake System. Total Cost: $2200. I only owe $4,000 on the damn car!
My question is: Is it possible that my compression of the calipers during repair may have caused the internal failure code that the one shop got? If so, would a complete Brake Fluid flush fix the issue? I am really apprehensive about plunking down a load of money on all this which seems to be just drumming up business for these shops. If I need to replace the calipers, rotors, and pads because I screwed up, I understand, but 2 Grand??? Thats alot of cash to put out.
I have taken it to 2 different repair shops to get it looked at and they are both telling me 2 different things and I need a mediator:
Repair Shop #1: It is possible that the Calipers are bad and they need to be replaced. The pads and rotors are definitely bad. They only appear to be bad on the front according to them so they want to charge $368 for that job.
Repair Shop #2: After a Diagnostics test, they got an error code 22 (Internal Failure) from the ABS Electronic Control Unit. He also says that three out of 4 brake sets are bad and he wants to replace the ABS Control Unit, the Hydraulic Control Unit, the Master Cylinder (Just in Case), all 4 sets of rotors, pads, and calipers, and also all the fluid in the Brake System. Total Cost: $2200. I only owe $4,000 on the damn car!
My question is: Is it possible that my compression of the calipers during repair may have caused the internal failure code that the one shop got? If so, would a complete Brake Fluid flush fix the issue? I am really apprehensive about plunking down a load of money on all this which seems to be just drumming up business for these shops. If I need to replace the calipers, rotors, and pads because I screwed up, I understand, but 2 Grand??? Thats alot of cash to put out.
May 19, 2009 at 6:22 PM
